Liberty Media reports $6 million in baseball revenue per 2021 Atlanta Braves home game
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Liberty Media, which owns the Atlanta Braves and The Battery Atlanta development surrounding Truist Park, released 2021 year-end financial results, which show the impact of the 2021 World Series on the company's earnings.
Liberty Media's Braves Group reported $568 million in revenue from baseball and development in a Friday morning press release. The company reported $6 million in baseball revenue per home game in 2021.
Liberty Media reported $93 million in baseball revenue in the fourth quarter alone, which included all eight of the club's postseason games in addition to three regular season games.
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Revenue spiked after a 2020 season, shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic saw $142 million in baseball revenue.
The company reported $526 million ballpark operations, which include ticket sales, concessions, corporate sales, retail, suites, premium seat fees and postseason revenue. Liberty Media also earns revenue from local broadcast rights and revenue streams it shares with other Major League Baseball franchises, including national broadcast rights and licensing.
Developmental revenue is primarily rental income from The Battery Atlanta facilities.
Liberty Media also has stake in Formula One and SiriusXM.
"It was a strong end to 2021 for the Liberty companies. The finish to the Formula 1 World Championship could not have been more suspenseful. The compelling action on the track continues to power the business’s flywheel and we recently made numerous announcements around value-creating agreements. SiriusXM hit record revenue and adjusted EBITDA levels and announced a $1 billion special dividend. The Atlanta Braves are still basking in the glory of their World Series title. Live Nation benefited from incredible fan demand in the back half of the year and all leading indicators point to record performance in 2022," Greg Maffei, Liberty Media President and CEO, said in a statement. "We enter this year energized and excited for the next areas of growth across the board."
Unlike most Major League Baseball franchises, the Atlanta Braves are owned by a publicly-traded company, which releases quarterly earnings reports.
The team's financial report comes as Major League Baseball's owners negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the Major League Baseball Players' Association. Commissioner Rob Manfred instituted a lockout while negotiations are ongoing. It's resulted in the delay of Spring Training and the looming threat of costing the league and players 2022 regular season games.
The Atlanta Braves mostly sat out of a busy period of free agency leading up to the lockout. Several players expected to sign high-dollar contracts are still free agents, including Atlanta Braves fan favorite Freddie Freeman. MLB front offices and players' agents are unable to negotiate contracts until MLB lifts its lockout.